Necktie retainer



Dec. 19, 1950 l. R. LANG 2,534,457

NECKTIE RETAINER Filed May 7, 1948 Patented Dec. 19, 195 0 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NEGKTIE RETAINER Ivan lt. Lang, Omaha, Nebr.

ficnpplicatiun Maxi, 1948, Serial No. 25,699

' 3' Claims.

This invention relates. to a retainer member for a necktie and more particularly to aretainer member for a .four-in-hand necktie that is tied in a knot with the retainer entered into the knot of the tie and secured to front and rear scarf .portions. of the necktie to prevent slippag anddisplacement of the knot and disarrangement of the front and rear scarf portions and is further an improvement over applicants co-pending application Serial No. 743,582, filed April 24, 1947.

. The four-in-hand necktie has a tendency to slip when tied in a knot whichallows the loop of the tie around. the. neck to enlarge and let .theknot sag and slip so that by the end of the .day, a wearer has an unkept look. Further, if the knot becomes loosened the front and back scarf portions of the tie will become disarranged and give asloppy appearance to a wearer. It is with the problem .of keeping a necktie neat and trim on a wearer and providing one structure that can be used with all sizes of. neckties that the present invention is concerned.

It is an object of the invention, amon others, to provide a necktie retainer thatwill hold the knot of the necktie from slipping or being displaced when on a wearer regardless of the size of the necktie knot and to hold the front and rear scarf portions from becoming disarranged; a necktie retainer that will function with any size necktie and. only one structure-is necessary .5

to care for a wide 'variety of sizes in necktie I knots; a necktie retainer thatis simple in design hence simple and economical to construct; a necktie retainer that requires no special skill on the part of a necktie wearer to attach within the knot of a necktie and to the scarf portions; a necktie retainer that has two anchor points when mounted hence no chance to slip when mounted on a necktie; and a necktie retainerthat will sell at an economical price well within the range of all necktie wearers.

With the foregoin and other objects in view,

I the invention will be more fully described herewith and will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

' In the drawings, "where like symbols refer to "like or -.correspondin parts throughout the seve'r'al v'iews Figure 1 is anelevational' view of the necktie retainer.

Figure 2 isa rear view of a .four-in-handnecktie tied :in :a :knot witlr the necktie retainer in place and theknot illustrated as being of large 'Figure 3 is arearview of atfour-imhandneek- 1 tie tied in a knot withv the necktie retainer. in place and the knot illustrated as being of a smaller size than the knotof Figure 2.

. Figure 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 44 of Figure 2 passing through the knot and scarf portions of the necktie and showing the necktie placed in a collar. I

The necktie retainer is represented generally at I with an upper portion 2 and a prong 3 on the end of-a shank 4 with the structure being made from a single piece of wire. The upper portion ure 2 the front scarf 5 of the necktie is tied from ferent thickness.

the left hand side while in Figure 3 the front scarf is tied from the right hand side and it will be noted that the same retainer l is employed in each instance.

.In forming the diamond shaped upper portion 2, the wire isbent outwardly at the point 6 to form the side '1 of the upper portion 2, which point 6 is also the top of the shank 4 and the lower apex of the diamond shapedupper portion 2. The side 8 is then formed by the wire being bent inwardly and extending upwardly. The wire is then bent downwardly and outwardly to form the side, 9

.with the diamond shaped upper-portion 2 being closed by the side l0 extending downwardly and inwardly with one end H of the wire wrapped around the shank 4 at the point 6. The diamond upper portion 2 may be made of a length and'a width that will care' for a small necktie or one that ties into a knot having a relatively small length. The scarf portions of neckties have different widths and are mad of materials of dif- The length of knot will vary with the width of scarf portions of the necktie, hence the length of the diamond shaped upper portion 2 is selected to care in general for neckties of a narrow width.

On the lower end of shank 4 is a triangular portion l2. formed by the wire being bent into shape to form a. pressure point for a finger l3 to force the prong 3 into a rear scarf portion I4 of the necktie. .It can therefore be seen that prong shank 4-.to close the loop 2.

A hook l5 extends outwardly from the point 6 wedged in the top of the knot. first anchoring point, the hook I is provided the rear fold of the knot and rear scarf portion I9 wedges in the top of the knot.

ing in a loop I'Ia. The portion I'I connects with a resilient means I8, which may be any type extensible member, with a coil spring disclosed as one example of a resilient member that may be used. The top of the coil spring I8 connects to the retainer member at the top of the upper portion 2 in an eye I9 formed at this point. The hook I5 may be moved downwardly on the shank 4, thus extending coil spring I8 to place the spring under tension. When-.the force moving hook I5 downward is removed-the coil spring IE 'will return the hook I5 to its "original position in contact with the end Ii of the wire.

Neckties of the four-in-hand type may be tied by two different methods. The first as represented in Figure 2, the wearer starts with front scarf 5 on his left in tying the necktie and the knot ties into the form shown in Figure 2. Where the wearer starts with the front scarf 5 on the right, the knot ties into form shown in Figure 3.

In the previous embodiment, two separate types of retainers were needed to care for the difierent methods of tying the knots, but as can be seen by the present type retainer l, the diamond 'shaped upper portion 2 allows the present retainer I to be used regardless of how the knot is tied. The upper portion 2 fits between the folds of the necktie forming the knot as shown in Figures 2 and 3 and is entered into the knot until the eye I9 and the upper portion 2 becomes To provide a to contact the outer edge of the portion of the necktie forming the bottom of the knot. The

' hook I5 provides a second anchoring point which with thetop portion 2 holds the retainer in place within the knot against sidewise motion. The hook I5 can thus be moved for different length knots so'that one type retainer can be used for different type and width neckties.

The retainer I is made of a spring wire and No. 12 piano Wire has been used successfully. The side apexes of the diamond shaped upper portion 2 form contact points in the knot which prevent sidewise motion of the upper portion 2 within the knot.

After the necktie has been tied around the neck of a wearer, and the knot formed, the rear scarf I4 is pulled through the knot of the necktie, pulling the necktie tight around the neck and the knot firm against the collar. The necktie is now ready to receive the necktie retainer I hence rear scarf I4 and front scarf 5 are lifted upwardly and outwardly sufliciently to allow the wearer to get to the back of the knot of the necktie. The upper portion 2 is entered into the knot between M forming the knot and pushed upwardly until the The hook I5 contacts the lower portion of one of the folds making up the knot and if the knot is longer than the upper portion 2, the spring I8 is placed under tension by the hook I5 being moved downwardly on the shank 4. The thumb or any finger 53 then contacts triangular portion i2 and force the prong 3 inwardly into the rear scarf I4. The contact portion I2 is of substantial size so that the force exerted by the finger is spread over a substantial area and thus prevents injury to a finger I3 exerting the force. The sharpened prong 3 is made to pierce the rear scarf I4 of the necktie which secures and anchors the lower end of the retainer I, in place to provide a third reaction point. With the retainer i in place, the rear scarf id is prevented from slipping backwardly through the knot and the necktie remains tight about the neck and the knot firm against the collar in neat and proper position. The point 3 is bent downwardly slightly to prevent inadvertent removal the point Sirom the rear scarf Id.

The upper portion 2 is wedged and anchored as to sidewise movement and the knot cannot break or bend at either side since the upper portion 2 acts as a reenforcement within the knot to prevent bending to throw the scarf portion 5 and I4 to either side which would improperly space the scarf portions 5 and I4 with relation to collar, shirt and coat. The big difliculty with most neckties is that the rear scarf portion I4 has a tendency to slip through the knot with the flexing of the muscles of the neck. This enlarges the loop around the neck and allows the necktie knot to sag within the collar giving a wearer an extremely sloppy appearance. The retainer I is anchored by prong 3 which is bent to block I from pulling out of the rear scarf I4, hence there can be no slipping of the rear scarf I4 through the knot. The front and rear scarf portions 5 and M are held in alignment when the retainer I is in place by the upper portion 2 wedged within the knot forming a first anchoring point; the hook I5 forming a second anchoring point and the prong 3 forming a third anchoring point so the rear scarf I4 cannot work around to the side or in front of the front scarf 5.

It is noted that not all neckties are the same size hence some neckties will tie into smaller knots than others. The present retainer I can be used with any sized knot since the hook I5 is movable. The present structure therefore presents a standard retainer usable with ties where the front scarf is tied either from the right or left and where the ties vary in size and thickness to give varying length knots when tied.

It will be understood that the invention has been described for purposes of illustration and explanation and that changes and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention; all such modifications and changes are intended to be .included in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a knotted four-in-hand tie retainer, a wire frame means having a diamond shape portion designed to rest within the knot of a knot ted four-in-hand tie and a downwardly extending shaft portion designed to extend below the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a hook member slidably mounted on said downwardly extending shaft portion designed to engage the under bottom edge of the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a coil spring having one end secured to the top of the diamond portion of said wire frame and its other end secured to said hook member for yieldingly holding said hook member in a direction toward said diamond shape portion of said frame means, and a pointed projection on the lower end portion of said down- 5 wardly extending shaft designed to engage the scarf of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied.

2. In a knotted four-in-hand tie retainer, a Wire frame means having a diamond shape portion designed to rest within the knot of a knotted four-in-hand tie and a downwardl extending shaft portion designed to extend below the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a hook member slidably mounted on said downwardly extending shaft portion designed to engage the under bottom edge of the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a coil spring having one end secured to the top of the diamond portion of said wire frame and its other end secured to said hook member for yieldingly holding said hook member in a direction toward said diamond shape portion of said frame means, an eye stop formed on the lower end portion of said downwardly extending shaft, and a pointed projection on the lower end portion of said downwardly extending shaft designed to engage the scarf of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied.

3. In a knotted four-in-hand tie retainer, a wire frame means having a diamond shape portion designed to rest within the knot of a knotted four-in-hand tie and a downwardly extending shaft portion designed to extend below the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a hook member slidably mounted on said downwardly extending shaft portion designed to engage the under bottom edge of the knot of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied, a coil spring having one end secured to the top of the diamond portion of said wire frame and its other end secured to said hook member for yieldingly holding said hook member in a direction toward said diamond shape portion of said frame means, an eye stop formed on the lower end portion of said downwardly extending shaft, and a pointed projection on the lower end portion of said downwardly extending shaft designed to engage the scarf of the tie to which the retainer is designed to be applied; said hook member and said pointed projection extending in opposite directions.

IVAN R. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 438,048 Bailey Oct. 7, 1890 1,836,517 Wolf Dec. 15, 1931 1,868,674 Smith July 26, 1932 1,939,576 Smith Dec. 12, 1933 2,176,537 Miener Oct. 17, 1939 

